Two commonly-used tools for cutting masonry (e.g., concrete/clay brick, block, stone, tile, and other material of the like) are hand-held gas-powered cut-off saws (referred to herein as “cut-off saws”) and standard four-stroke gas-powered fixed table saws or tub saws (referred to herein collectively as “tub saws”). Tub saws generally provide more precision and control than cut-off saws, but cut-off saws are widely used because they have many other advantages over tub saws. For example, the two-stroke engines of cut-off saws provide much higher revolutions-per-minute (RPM) than tub saws, and cut-off saws are generally much cheaper than tub saws (e.g., a typical tub saw costs around $4,000, whereas a typical cut-off saw costs around $600).
U.S. Pat. No. 2,736,311 to Neligh C. Coates (hereinafter, “Coates”) titled “TRACK MOUNTED CUTTER FOR CONCRETE SLABS AND THE LIKE”, issued Feb. 28, 1956, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,193 to Leo Swan (hereinafter, “Swan”) titled “PRESS ASSEMBLY FOR A PORTABLE MASONRY CUT-OFF SAW”, issued May 5, 1998, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Swan describes an assembly in the form of a press for holding a conventional hand-held portable gasoline engine powered masonry cut-off saw. The assembly includes a vertical frame secured to a pan and on which the cut-off saw is pivotally mounted. The frame is detachable for ease of transport and shipment. A gas bias spring acts to normally position the cut-off saw up and away from a movable work table positioned on the pan. A support plate affixed to a pivot shafted mounted on the frame includes means at both ends for positioning and firmly holding the saw in place during a cutting operation. The speed and on-off control of the saw is provided by a twist hand grip throttle mounted on the outer end of an operator actuated lever arm secured to the pivot shaft. The twist grip throttle is coupled by means of a cable to a trigger actuable blade speed control assembly mounted on the hand grip at the rear end of the cut-off saw.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,736 to Martin A. Bearden (hereinafter, “Bearden”) titled “PORTABLE SAW WITH IMPROVED DISCONNECTABLE PLATFORM FOR CUTTING CONCRETE FOR CONTROLLING CRACKS”, issued Sep. 5, 2000, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Bearden describes an apparatus for cutting grooves in a green concrete slab having at least one terminating side edge transverse to a broad top surface in a low cost manner is described and includes the following elements: a hand-held portable rotary saw, supported on a rollable platform disconnectably connected to and supporting the relative to the green concrete slab. The rollable platform includes a planar base in surface contact with a conventional guide plate of the saw, and flared side walls extending outwardly from the planar base an anchoring portion adapted to receive a human-generated force to provide rectilinear travel along a preselected direction over the green concrete slab. The planar base also includes a slot in alignment with an opening in the guide plate through which the saw blade extends whereby a working plane of reference is defined that intersects an axis of rotation of the saw blade whereby a maximum depth of cut is easily defined coincident with the working plane of reference. The rollable platform also includes a set of rollers in rolling contact with the green concrete slab to facilitate the rectilinear travel wherein first and second pairs of rollers define parallel axes of rotation normal to said pre-selected direction of travel that facilitate operations in a low cost manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,080,851 to Ulf Schipper (hereinafter, “Schipper”) titled “GUIDE CART”, issued Jul. 25, 2006, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Schipper describes a guide cart for an implement including a frame on which is disposed at least two wheels, and a first strut on which is disposed at least one wheel, and a second strut, wherein for a mounting of said second strut on said frame at least two spaced-apart mounting points are provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,905,223 to Stefan von Siegroth, et al. (hereinafter, “Von Siegroth, et al.”) titled “GUIDE CART AND POWER TOOL WITH GUIDE A CART”, issued Mar. 15, 2011, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Von Siegroth, et al. describe a guide cart for a hand-held power tool with a driven tool has a pivot device that is pivotable between an open position and a fixation position. A fixation elements is provided that releasably secures the power tool on the guide cart. The fixation element is secured on the pivot device. The pivot device has at least one support for supporting a tool of the power tool in the fixation position of the pivot device. The guide cart has a holder for the power tool, wherein holder is provided with a base plate and has at least one lateral guide for the power tool. The pivot device is supported on the base plate. The pivot device and the baseplate together form a C-shaped frame.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems and methods for making precise masonry cuts with a cut-off saw.